Nigeria rebel group Mend attacked oil pipeline using machine guns and assault rifles

Armed men in the Niger delta of Nigeria say they have attacked an oil pipeline overnight, putting a two-month truce with the government in doubt.

A faction of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said it attacked the pipeline.

A spokesman said it was because the government was delaying peace talks due to the absence of ill President Umaru Yar'Adua, who is in Saudi Arabia.

Attacks have cost Nigeria millions in lost revenue over the years.

The faction said, in an e-mailed statement, that the "warning strike" was carried out by 35 men on five boats with assault rifles, rocket launchers and heavy-calibre machine guns.

It said the pipeline was in Abonemma, about 50km (30 miles) west of Port Harcourt.

Nigeria's military has not commented on the attack.

Peace talks were suspended when President Yar'Adua was hospitalised in late November in Saudi Arabia.

Full story: BBC News at 10:53 GMT, Saturday, 19 December 2009 - Nigeria rebels attack oil pipeline

European Union gives Nigeria $1bn 'for peace' - Militants have been demanding a greater share of the oil wealth

From BBC News online, November 23, 2009:
European Union gives Nigeria $1bn 'for peace'

The European Commission has signed a $1bn (£602m) development pact with Nigeria, aimed at tackling corruption and promoting peace.

A substantial amount of the funding will be spent on resolving conflict in the oil-rich and crime-plagued Niger Delta, the EU's development chief said.

The money will also target electoral reform and improving human rights.

But correspondents say many Nigerians will doubt the money will get to its intended targets.

The BBC's Caroline Duffield, in Lagos, says corruption touches the lives of everyone in Nigeria and leaves the vast majority of people in poverty.

And she says many Nigerians believe the current government is losing the fight against corruption.

Almost a third of the EU money is devoted to the Niger Delta region.

For years militants have blown up pipelines and kidnapped foreign oil workers, demanding a fairer share of the wealth.

"I'm delighted that a substantial amount of this financing will go to support conflict resolution and the peace process in the Niger Delta which has been ravaged by years of unrest," said the EU's development commissioner Karel De Gucht.

Over the past few months, thousands of militants have given up their weapons in an amnesty deal offered by the government in return for the promise of education and jobs.

A three-month respite from the violence has brought back some oil and gas production, but sceptics fear the former fighters could resume violence if they do not quickly find work.

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November 11, 2009

FOCA: China, Africa hold summit to reinforce bilateral trade

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao can expect a warm welcome from Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak and finance and foreign ministers from 50 countries when the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCA) starts in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on Sunday.

Ever-eager for raw materials and markets to sell its products, China has said the new meeting will lay down a “road map” to further boost cooperation between 2010 and 2012.

Direct Chinese investment in Africa leapt from $491 million in 2003 to $7.8 billion in 2008. Trade between the two has increased tenfold since the start of the decade.

Last year, China-Africa trade reached $106.8 billion - a rise of 45 percent in one year and on a par with with the United States, which estimated its two-way trade with sub-Saharan Africa at $104 billion for 2008.

Chinese imports from Africa last year were worth $56 billion, dominated by oil ($39 billion) and raw materials.

Its $56 billion of exports in 2008 consisted mainly of machinery, electrical goods, cars, motorbikes and bicycles.

FOCAC is held every three years and this will be the fourth since it started in 2000.

Source: AFP report via Saudi GazetteFriday 06 November 2009. Copy:
China, Africa hold summit to reinforce bilateral trade

CAIRO - Leaders from China and Africa start a three day summit on Sunday that will again throw the spotlight on Beijing’s strategic sweep for energy, minerals and political influence in the continent.

China has over the past decade paid for dams, power stations, football stadiums across Africa and scooped up copper, oil and other fuel for its breakneck economic expansion from Algeria to Zimbabwe.

It has invested billions of dollars while raising eyebrows in the United States and its allies by pursuing the hunt for oil and other resources in Sudan, Somalia and other nations that the West has shunned.

Many African leaders praise China however for not preaching about rights and corruption. So despite neo-colonialist qualms, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao can expect a warm welcome from Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak and finance and foreign ministers from 50 countries when the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation starts in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on Sunday.

FOCAC is held every three years and this will be the fourth since it started in 2000.

Ever-eager for raw materials and markets to sell its products, China has said the new meeting will lay down a “road map” to further boost cooperation between 2010 and 2012.

Direct Chinese investment in Africa leapt from $491 million in 2003 to $7.8 billion in 2008. Trade between the two has increased tenfold since the start of the decade.

Last year, China-Africa trade reached $106.8 billion - a rise of 45 percent in one year and on a par with with the United States, which estimated its two-way trade with sub-Saharan Africa at $104 billion for 2008.

Chinese imports from Africa last year were worth $56 billion, dominated by oil ($39 billion) and raw materials.

Its $56 billion of exports in 2008 consisted mainly of machinery, electrical goods, cars, motorbikes and bicycles.

Some in the West have accuse China of worsening repression and human rights abuses in Africa by supporting countries such as Sudan and Zimbabwe.

US intelligence director Dennis Blair told a Congress committee in March that US agencies are keeping close tabs on China’s expanding influence in Africa, especially in oil-producing countries like Nigeria.

Cross-posted to:
China Tibet Watch
Congo Watch
Egypt Watch
Ethiopia Watch
Kenya Watch
Sudan Watch
Uganda Watch
Africa Oil Watch

AGI: Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative

From The Office of Tony Blair
November 05, 2009
Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative to create development through good governance becomes charity

The Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative has become a registered UK charity after creating a unique 'hands-on' approach to development and poverty eradication over the past eighteen months.

The Charity Commission approved the application from this relatively new organisation, which is underpinned by the belief that good governance and sustainable development are key to poverty eradication in the long term.

Tony Blair, founder of the Africa Governance Initiative (AGI), said:

"I'm extremely proud of our excellent project teams who are working in partnership with the governments of Rwanda and Sierra Leone to reduce poverty and develop new opportunities for growth.

"It is a privilege to work with leaders as talented and as committed to their people as President Koroma and President Kagame who represent a new generation of leaders in Africa with a commitment to building a new future for their people.

"The developed world needs to keep up its commitment to Africa expressed at the 2005 G8 Summit in Gleneagles. But lasting change in Africa will only come in the end from African solutions. By building the capacity to create sustainable long-term development through good governance and providing high level advice, we have already started to help deliver that change.

"And it won't stop here. Whilst developing our work in Sierra Leone and Rwanda, we want to launch new projects with other countries, sharing our knowledge, experience and expertise. We want more countries to develop sustainably, paving the way to a prosperous future.

"This work has reinforced my optimism about Africa's future, as well as my conviction that governance and growth are the key ingredients to effectively reduce poverty across the continent."

Commenting on Tony Blair and the work of the Africa Governance Initiative, Ernest Koroma, President of Sierra Leone, said:

"Mr. Blair has demonstrated an enduring commitment to Sierra Leone and its people. The work comes at a critical stage in Sierra Leone's development. I believe together we have an opportunity to ensure that Sierra Leone puts in place the policies, people and institutions to achieve real and lasting change."

Commenting on the work of AGI, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda said:

"What I would like people to know is that the type of partnership we have with Tony Blair is totally different from the type of consultancy people are used to. We work in very strong partnerships whereby not only gaps are filled where they exist, but there's also the notion of transfer of skills, mentoring, actually doing things that are measurable such that over a period of time, we will be able to know what kind of impact was made."

Cross-posted to:
China Tibet Watch
Congo Watch
Egypt Watch
Ethiopia Watch
Kenya Watch
Sudan Watch
Uganda Watch
Africa Oil Watch

Why is Africa poor? Africa is not poor, it is poorly managed

Quote of the Day
"Africa is not poor, it is poorly managed." - President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, 2009.

The following report also tells us that Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf says she underestimated the problem of graft.

From BBC News, Monday, 24 August 2009:
Why is the African continent poor?
By Mark Doyle, BBC world affairs correspondent

The desolate, dusty town of Pibor on South Sudan's border with Ethiopia has no running water, no electricity and little but mud huts for the population to live in.

You would be hard put to find a poorer place anywhere on earth.

I went there as part of a journey across Africa to ask the question "Why is Africa poor?" for a BBC radio documentary series.

I was asked to investigate why it is that every single African country - with the exceptions of oil-rich Gabon and Algeria - is classified by the United Nations as having a "low" broadly defined Human Development Index - in other words an appalling standard of living for most of the people.

In Pibor, the answer to why the place is poor seems fairly obvious.

The people - most of whom are from the Murle ethnic group - are crippled by tribal conflicts related to disputes over cattle, the traditional store of wealth in South Sudan.

The Murle have recently had fights with the Lol Nuer group to the north of Pibor and with ethnic Bor Dinkas to the west.

In a spate of fighting with the Lol Nuer earlier this year several hundred people, many of them women and children, were killed in deliberate attacks on villages.

There has been a rash of similar clashes across South Sudan in the past year (although most were on a smaller scale than the fights between the Lol Nuer and the Murle).

And so the answer to why South Sudan is poor is surely a no-brainer: War makes you destitute.

Why is there so much war?

And yet South Sudan is potentially rich.

"It's bigger than Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi combined," the South Sudan Regional Co-operation Minister Barnaba Benjamin, enthused.

"Tremendous land! Very fertile, enormous rainfall, tremendous agricultural resources. Minerals! We have oil and many other minerals - go name it!"

The paradox of rich resources and poor people hints at another layer of explanation about why Africa is poor.

It is not just that there is war. The question should, perhaps be: "Why is there so much war?"

And the headline question is in fact misleading; Africans as a people may be poor, but Africa as a place is fantastically rich - in minerals, land, labour and sunshine.

That is why outsiders have been coming here for hundreds of years - to invade, occupy, convert, plunder and trade.

But the resources of South Sudan, for example, have never been properly developed.

During colonial rule South Sudan was used as little more than a reservoir of labour and raw materials.

Then independence was followed by 50 years of on-off war between the south and north - with northerners in Khartoum continuing the British tactic of divide and rule among the southern groups.

Some southerners believe this is still happening today.

Corruption

On my journey across the poorest, sub-Saharan swathe of the continent - that took in Liberia and Nigeria in the west, Sudan in the centre, and Kenya in the east - people explored the impact that both non-Africans and Africans had had on why Africa is poor.

Almost every African I met, who was not actually in government, blamed corrupt African leaders for their plight.

"The gap between the rich and the poor in Africa is still growing," said a fisherman on the shores of Lake Victoria.

"Our leaders, they just want to keep on being rich. And they don't want to pay taxes."

Even President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia came close to this when she told me she had underestimated the level of corruption in her country when she took office.

"Maybe I should have sacked the whole government when I came to power," she said.

"Africa is not poor," President Johnson-Sirleaf added, "it is poorly managed."

This theme was echoed by an architect in Kenya and a senior government official in Nigeria.

Both pointed out that the informal sector of most African economies is huge and almost completely unharnessed.

Marketplaces, and a million little lean-to repair shops and small-scale factories are what most urban Africans rely upon for a living.

But such is their distrust of government officials that most businesspeople in the informal sector avoid all contact with the authorities.

Kenyan architect and town planner Mumo Museva took me to the bustling Eastleigh area of Nairobi, where traders have created a booming economy despite the place being almost completely abandoned by the government.

Eastleigh is a filthy part of the city where rubbish lies uncollected, the potholes in the roads are the size of swimming pools, and the drains have collapsed.

But one indication of the success of the traders, Mr Museva said, was the high per-square-foot rents there.

"You'll be surprised to note that Eastleigh is the most expensive real estate in Nairobi."

He added that if Eastleigh traders trusted the government they might pay some taxes in return for decent services, so creating a "virtuous circle".

"It would lift people out of poverty," he said.

"Remember, poverty is related to quality of life, and the quality of life here is appalling, despite the huge amount of wealth flowing through these areas."

Then the young Kenyan architect echoed the Liberian president, some 5,000km (3,000 miles) away on the other side of the continent.

"Africa is not poor," he also said.

"Africa is just poorly managed."

See blog: Why is Africa poor? Have Your Say

Malawi team to replace Nigeria's in CECAFA Under-17 Youth Championship (Bashir Cup)

Nigeria have pulled out of the Council of East and Central Africa Football Association (CECAFA) Under-17 competition, organisers have announced.

CECAFA secretary Nicholas Musonye said the young Eagles informed him of their withdrawal, citing other commitments in Europe.

Nigeria, who were one of the two guest nations in the competition, will now be replaced by Malawi, who had been put on standby.

The other guest side is Egypt.

Full story: Goal.com, Sunday, 16 August 2009 - Nigeria Pull Out Of CECAFA Under-17 Competition

UN Expert warns of mass forced evictions in Nigeria

GENEVA, Switzerland, August 14, 2009/African Press Organization (APO)
UN Expert warns of mass forced evictions in Nigeria

United Nations independent expert Raquel Rolnik said today: “Forced evictions can only be justified in the most exceptional cases and in full compliance with international human rights law,”, while expressing her concern at the mass evictions planned by the Nigerian River State Government, which could leave hundreds of thousands of people homeless over the coming year.

“Evictions should not result in individuals being rendered homeless or vulnerable to the violation of other human rights,” warned the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing.

In February 2009, the River State Government announced its decision to demolish all the waterfront settlements in Port Harcourt within the framework of its urban renewal strategy. Since then the authorities have allegedly carried out demolitions at various sites throughout Port Harcourt in violation of a stay order issued by the Federal High Court to stop the evictions.

“Nigeria, as State Party to several international human rights treaties must take all appropriate measures, to the maximum of its available resources, to ensure that adequate alternative housing or resettlement is available,” said Rolnik.

According to international human rights standards, people affected by forced evictions have the right to compensation and to procedural protection, including genuine consultation, adequate and reasonable notice, information on the proposed evictions, provision of legal remedies and legal aid, to be present during the eviction and to identify all persons who are carrying out the eviction.

However, according to local sources, most of these conditions have not been met in evictions already carried out in Port Harcourt. The Special Rapporteur urges the Government of Nigeria to respect its international obligations by fulfilling all of them.

The UN independent expert is also concerned that military personnel may assist in the forced evictions in Port Harcourt. “The military’s participation in forced evictions may result in multiple human rights violations” she pointed out. According to local sources, on 5 August 2009, Port Harcourt’s military forces arrested over 1000 residents who were protesting against the demolition of their homes.

SOURCE: Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

CECAFA U-17 football tournament: Somalia v Nigeria (Khartoum, Sudan, 9.30pm on 20 Aug 2009)

From Pana via Afrique en ligne, Wednesday, 12 August 2009:
Fixtures of Cecafa youth football tournament in Sudan

(Kenya) - Below are the fixtures for this month's Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) championships taking place in Sudan.

The regional event, known as the Cecafa U-17 tournament, is slated for 19-31 August in three Sudanese cities - Khartoum, Juba and Medani. It is being sponsored by Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir to the tune of US$ 700,000.

Aug. 19 - Ethiopia v Zanzibar (Juba 2.30pm); Kenya v Uganda (Juba 4.30pm).

Aug. 20 - Somalia v Nigeria (Khartoum 5.30pm); Sudan v Tanzania (Khartoum 9.30pm )

Aug. 21 - Zanzibar v Kenya (Juba 2.30pm); Uganda v Ethiopia (Juba 4.30pm).

Aug. 22 - Nigeria v Tanzania (Khartoum 5.30pm); Somalia v Sudan (Khartoum 9.30pm ),

Aug. 22 - Eritrea v Rwanda (Medani 5.30pm); Egypt v Burundi (Medani 9.30pm).

Aug. 23 - Kenya v Ethiopia (Juba 2.30pm); Zanzibar v Uganda (Juba 4.30pm).

Aug. 24 - Tanzania v Somalia (Khartoum 5.30pm); Sudan v Nigeria (Khartoum 9.30pm ).

Aug. 24 - Rwanda v Burundi (Medani 5.30pm); Eritrea v Egypt (Medani 9.30pm).

Aug. 25 - Rest Day.

Aug. 26 & 27 - Quarter finals

Aug. 28 & 29 - Semi finals (Khartoum).

Aug. 30 - Rest Day.

Aug. 31 - Third place play offs/Finals (Khartoum).

Cross posted from Sudan Watch on Wednesday 12 August 2009: Fixtures of CECAFA U-17 football tournament in Sudan 19-31 Aug 2009

Click on labels here below for related reports and updates.

Microfinancing: Launch of new Mobile Money Transfer Directory will focus on Sub-Sahara Africa

A new Mobile Money Transfer Directory at http://creditsms.org launches in 2 wks focus on Sub-Saharan Africa (by @CreditSMS)

Source: White African Erik Hersman via Twitter 04 Aug. 2009
- - -

Snippets from CreditSMS website:

In December 2009, CreditSMS will launch several pilots throughout Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Additional pilot requests have been submitted for Kenya, Sudan, and Sierra Leone. Uganda and DRC have 87% and 66% rural populations respectively, constituting a nascent market of as many as 76 million potential clients and consumers. By enabling MFIs [microfinance institutions] to reach and meet the demands of this market, CreditSMS will facilitate a form of 'bubble up' development whereby the income of microloan recipients will increase and the price of newly-available goods and services will trend toward market equilibrium. All pilot results will be made free and accessible via CreditSMS.org as they become available.
- - -

The Beginning...
By Ben Lyon
Published: July 14, 2009

Formal banks were hesitant to give "the bottom billion" loans because they didn't have collateral. Today, microfinance institutions (MFIs) fill that void by providing collateral-free loans to micro-entrepreneurs. In order to compete with traditional moneylenders, however, those MFIs had to charge exorbitant interest rates, mostly to absorb the high transport cost of making weekly visits to rural areas to collect loan repayments. With teledensity penetration and mobile commerce growing faster by the day, one has to wonder: why are loan officers still making the trip? Read More...
- - -

Increasing revenue and impact through technology
By Ben Lyon
Published: July 22, 2009
[article written for Project Diaspora]

Aaron Ewedafe wakes up every morning at least one hour before the sun rises. Donning his satchel full of client records and repayment schedules, he hails the nearest okada driver and races into the surrounding countryside to begin a long day of loan group meetings. The trip from headquarters in Oshogbo to the village of Ojudo and back can take all day. Aaron rarely makes it home before nightfall. Altogether, Aaron spends 112 hours and 5,000 naira a week to manage 350 microloan recipients. His profit is negligible. Read More...
- - -

The 'Phone as Cow' Model
By Ben Lyon
Published: August 1, 2009

Mobile phones are quickly becoming the hottest topic in development. Everyday, waves of new innovations are rolled out to connect 'bottom of the pyramid' (BOP) entrepreneurs to markets and information. But many advocates and implementers seem to neglect a fundamental question: What good are mobile innovations if BOP entrepreneurs can't afford handsets? According to Iqbal Quadir of Grameenphone, the answer is to issue the handset as the first microloan. Read More...

- - -

Follow Credit SMS on Twitter

Check out Mobile Money Africa - Africa's leading online resource for mobile financial inclusion: mobilemoneyafrica.com

Lawyers challenge Niger president

Niger's lawyers have called a strike, as President Mamadou Tandja begins his campaign to hold a referendum for a third termin office.

The lawyers say their action is to show solidarity with the Constitutional Court, which was dissolved after declaring Mr Tandja's plan illegal.

The president wants citizens to vote on 4 August to allow him to hold office for three more years.

The EU has delayed some aid to the uranium-rich country over the row.

Mamadou Tandja says the people of Niger want him to stay.

Source: BBC News, Monday, 13 July 2009:
Lawyers challenge Niger president.

EU blocks aid to Niger in protest at president's bid to keep power

July 12, 2009 BRUSSELS (AFP):
EU blocks aid to Niger in protest at president's bid to keep power

The European Commission has blocked an aid payment to Niger in protest at an attempt by the country's president to stay in power beyond his elected term, a commissioner said Saturday.

President Mamadou Tandja plans to carry out a constitutional referendum on August 4 in order to win backing for a constitution change that would allow him to run for a third term in office.

"A letter has been sent to President Tandja to inform him of the decision to postpone for the moment an aid payment," EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel told AFP.

"It does not amount to a suspension. But at the moment, the Commission believes governance in the country is unsatisfactory and we cannot go ahead with the payment," he said.

The size of the aid payment was not given.

Under the current law the 71-year-old former colonel is barred from staying in office beyond December 22, when his second elected five-year term expires.

The president has dissolved the constitutional court for ruling three times against his plan and has dissolved parliament, which also opposed him.

Niger leader dissolves parliament

Niger's President, Mamadou Tandja, dissolves the uranium-rich country's parliament a day after his bid for a third term in office is ruled illegal.

Full story: BBC News, 27 May 2009 - Niger leader dissolves parliament

France builds 'renewed' ties with west Africa

On Friday, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon is due to fly on to neighbouring Nigeria, where he will stay until Saturday. He plans to visit the oil-producing Niger Delta region in the south, where there has recently been an upsurge of violence by a group that claims a bigger share of the oil wealth for local communities.

French PM builds 'renewed' ties with west Africa
From AFP, Friday, 22 May 2009 (YAOUNDE):

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon began a brief west African tour Thursday starting in Cameroon and aimed at launching what he called "modernised cooperation" with the continent.

In Cameroon, run by President Paul Biya since 1982, officials signed a "new generation" defence agreement, which no longer provides for French military intervention as earlier ones did.

During a dinner hosted by Biya, Fillon said it had become "urgent to modernise our cooperation" in this domain, and also to take the secrecy out of such pacts.

French junior defence minister Jean-Marie Bockel, who signed the accord, praised it for strictly respecting Cameroon's independence.

France's junior minister for cooperation, Alain Joyandet, said: "We're trying to get out of a paternalist relationship to begin a strategic partnership."

Fillon later addressed the situaton in the former French colony of Chad, which recently pursued rebels inside Sudan after repulsing a May 4 offensive.

Chad and Sudan regularly accuse each other of supporting rebel movements in their respective countries. Chad's recent military action inside Sudan further raised tensions between them.

"Everyone can see very well that the solution to the problems of Chad are not to be found in Chad," said Fillon during a discussions with students at the international relations institute in Yaounde.

"They are to be found in Sudan, they are to be found in the resolution of conflicts which affect Sudan and its neighbours," he said, apparently referring to unrest in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

On the presence of French troops in Chad, Fillon said neither he nor President Nicolas Sarkozy wanted to see them play a role in its internal politics.

"That is the reason why these armed forces did not intervene during the crisis that has taken place in Chad," he said.

The revision of defence pacts between France and some of its former colonies was a key issue in the Africa policy laid out by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a speech in February in South Africa.

Togo came before Cameroon, and the Central African Republic and the Comoros Islands are next on the list.

Fillon, who arrived on Wednesday night, briefly took part in a reception in Biya's giant palace for Yaounde authors on the day of the Cameroonian National Holiday.

On Thursday morning, he visited a construction site, and then went into talks with Biya for half an hour.

On Friday, Fillon is due to fly on to neighbouring Nigeria, where he will stay until Saturday. He plans to visit the oil-producing Niger Delta region in the south, where there has recently been an upsurge of violence by a group that claims a bigger share of the oil wealth for local communities.

Niger kidnapping: Mujahedeen fighters released in exchange for diplomats

From Canwest News Service by Steven Edwards 28 April, 2009 (via Calgary Herald):

Mujahedeen fighters released in exchange for diplomats: Sources



Photo: Canadian diplomats Robert Fowler (right), UN special envoy to Niger, and his assistant Louis Guay are pictured after they were released along with two European tourists by Al-Qaeda-linked captors after months as hostages on Thursday.
Photograph by: Habib Kouyate, AFP/Getty Images

UNITED NATIONS — An Algerian terror suspect, who has fought in Afghanistan, was among four jailed "mujahedeen" fighters released to al-Qaida's North Africa branch in exchange for two Canadian diplomats and two European women, Canwest News has been told.

Two of the other three terror suspects were Mauritanian, while the remaining one was either Jordanian or Syrian, sources in North Africa with some knowledge of the largely secret deal say.

The diplomats, former Canadian ambassador to the UN Robert Fowler, and Foreign Affairs Department official Louis Guay, arrived back in Canada Tuesday after spending several days undergoing medical check-ups and debriefing in Germany since al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) released them in Mali last week.

A faction of the group held the pair hostage in the land-locked Sahel state following their kidnapping Dec. 14 in neighbouring Niger, where they had been on a UN mission.

Fowler declined comment on his ordeal when reached at his Ottawa home Tuesday.

The released Algerian al-Qaida member, Oussama Alboumerdassi, fought with the then U.S.-backed mujahedeen resistance to the Soviet presence in Afghanistan, staying on until 1992, according to a North African al-Qaida observer with close links to people involved in the effort to free the Canadians.

The information is backed by a report published Tuesday in Ennahar, a daily newspaper based in the Algerian capital of Algiers. The paper promotes itself as being independent of government.

Regional security sources provided the nationalities of the other three, according to the al-Qaida expert, while Ennahar says all four had been jailed in Mali since February 2008.

At the heart of the negotiations seeking the release of the hostages were Saif al-Islam Muammar al-Gaddafi, son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and a relative of Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore, identified as Mauritanian businessman Abdallah Chaffei, the newspaper reported.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper specifically thanked both Mali and Burkina Faso during a press conference last Wednesday in which he announced the Canadians' release

Indeed, al-Qaida initially said it would release the pair and the European women — two of four tourists snatched in Mali by the terrorist group in January — in the Burkina Faso capital of Ouagadougou, a Western source close to the talks told Canwest News Service.

Insisting the Conservative government had stuck to its policy of neither paying a ransom nor freeing prisoners for hostages, Harper left open the possibility other countries had fronted a deal.

Saif al-Islam, who heads the Gaddafi Foundation charity, mediated last year in the case of two Austrians held by AQIM in Mali.

But insiders say Guay himself was also personally known to Libyan officials, having visited the country several times as he sought to get Canada invited to peace talks focused on the border between Chad and the Darfur region of neighbouring Sudan.

A ransom of $2 million was paid for the Austrians' freedom, a source close to those talks told Canwest.

In talks seeking freedom for the Canadians and Europeans, Ennahar says Chaffei joined Saif al-Islam after Burkina Faso had "taken the initiative" to manage delivery of a cash ransom that had emerged as a demand.

Their presence would have enabled Canadian and UN investigators, who had been dispatched to the region, to maintain arm's length from the talks, analysts believe.

A former U.S. ambassador to the region told Canwest News Service that the Burkina Faso president has, in recent years, gained a reputation for being "very helpful" to the West. But he has in the past been linked to diamond smuggling that benefited regional terrorists — hence his "likely connections" to AQIM, according to one regional source.

But the real sticking block was the al-Qaida demand for a prisoner exchange, which Canwest News revealed several weeks after the Canadians had been kidnapped, basing the report on Western sources.

Helping solve that fell to Mali President Amadou Toure, according to Ennahar.

"AQIM declared in an unofficial manner that four of its members . . . have been delivered to the north of Mali as a result of a major transaction led by the Malian president," it said.

An unnamed European country paid a ransom of five million Euros, the Algerian daily El Khabar reported last week, and Ennahar, citing its own sources, asserted the same Tuesday.

The women freed alongside Fowler and Guay are a Swiss and a German.

The Swiss woman's husband and a British man remain hostage. al-Qaida said in a statement Sunday it would give Britain 20 days to free a prominent al-Qaida member currently held in a British jail, or it will kill the Briton.

Niger gov't reps and Tuareg rebel leaders declared peace in presence of Col Gaddafi

The Tuaregs, a historically nomadic people living in the Sahara and Sahel regions of North Africa, have had militant groups in Mali and Niger engaged in sporadic armed struggles for several decades.

In neighbouring Mali, hundreds of Tuareg rebels laid down their arms in February, breathing new life into a stalled peace process

The BBC's Idy Baraou in Niger says the country's main rebel group wants a greater share of revenues from the uranium mines in the north of the former French colony.

The movement also wants the expanding mines to be curtailed so they do not encroach on agricultural areas, already under threat from increased desertification.

Source: BBC News April 97, 2009
Niger and rebels 'agree to peace'

The government of Niger and Tuareg rebels of the Movement of Niger People for Justice (MNJ) have agreed to end hostilities, according to reports.

Libyan state news agency Jana said two days of talks in Tripoli ended with both sides committing themselves to "total and comprehensive peace".

There has been no confirmation from the Niger government but a rebel website said everyone supported reconciliation.

The rebels are seeking a greater share of the region's uranium resources.

In the past Niger said it would never negotiate with the rebels, whom it labelled as bandits, but last month the Libyan leader, Col Muammar Gaddafi visited Niger to help broker a deal.

Rebels also released some government troops.

Government representatives and rebel leaders declared peace in the presence of Col Gaddafi, the current chairman of the African Union, Jana reported.

"Two days of talks ... were crowned by an announcement in front of the brother leader of the revolution and African Union chairman that they commit themselves to keep up total and comprehensive peace in Niger," the report said.

One of the three Tuareg rebel groups, the Niger Patriotic Front (FPN), said in a statement on its website that "all the delegations spoke in favour of peace and national reconciliation".

"All those taking part in this mission now have the historic responsibility to overcome their differences and realise these commitments, which must now be transformed into a formal peace agreement," the statement said.

Both sides had opened the discussions by telling Col Gaddafi they were committed to peace in the West African state, Jana reported.

"Everyone present spoke of their serious commitment and will to reach a peace deal," Niger's Interior Minister Albedi Abouba was quoted as saying.

Aghali Alambo, leader of the MNJ, spoke of the "commitment of his group and other groups for a definitive peace in Niger," Jana reported.

Uranium revenues

The BBC's Idy Baraou in Niger says the country's main rebel group wants a greater share of revenues from the uranium mines in the north of the former French colony.

The movement also wants the expanding mines to be curtailed so they do not encroach on agricultural areas, already under threat from increased desertification.

The Tuaregs, a historically nomadic people living in the Sahara and Sahel regions of North Africa, have had militant groups in Mali and Niger engaged in sporadic armed struggles for several decades.

In neighbouring Mali, hundreds of Tuareg rebels laid down their arms in February, breathing new life into a stalled peace process.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb seeks to unify armed radical groups with emerging groups in Niger, Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea

From Gulf Daily News, Monday, April 06, 2009
Bouteflika warned by Al Qaeda

ALGIERS: Al Qaeda has warned Algerians against re-electing "ferocious enemy" President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Thursday's presidential vote.

The Algerian regime supports the West by seeking to destroy "true Islam," Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said in a statement issued on Jihadist forums, the Site Intelligence Group reported.

It said Bouteflika is a "ferocious enemy" of Muslims.

The Al Qaeda group called on Muslims to overthrow rulers whose legislation fails to follow religious law.

Muslims, it added according to Site, must seek training and Jihad, abstain from the re-election of Bouteflika and his like, and support =the Mujahideen.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb seeks to unify armed radical groups in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco with emerging groups in countries such as Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea.

France seeks to exploit Africa - DR Congo has major uranium reserves

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has continued his two-day African tour by visiting the neighbouring Republic of Congo, previously a French colony. He is expected in uranium-rich Niger on Friday.

Mr Sarkozy is joined by ministers and other executives from French firms - including France Telecom, cement maker Lafarge and construction group Vinci - chasing contracts in various sectors.

March 27, 2009 report from BBC News:
Sarkozy outlines Congo peace plan

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has suggested using the mineral wealth of the Democratic Republic of Congo to help bring peace to central Africa.

Addressing parliament in Kinshasa, he also praised Congolese President Joseph Kabila's joint operation with Rwanda against rebels earlier this year.

The region has been plagued by rival militias for more than a decade.

He said the region's people could become rich by working together or continue to fight and remain poor.

French nuclear giant Areva's chief executive has taken advantage of the visit to sign a deal to exploit uranium in DR Congo.

Sarkozy is forgetting that Congo has been sharing its wealth with the world for such a long time - what has it got in return?

Congo responds to Sarkozy

No further details were released but DR Congo has major uranium reserves and was the source of some of the raw material for the atomic bombs the US dropped on Japan in World War II.

Mr Sarkozy has continued his two-day African tour by visiting the neighbouring Republic of Congo, previously a French colony.
He is expected in uranium-rich Niger on Friday.

Mr Sarkozy is joined by ministers and other executives from French firms - including France Telecom, cement maker Lafarge and construction group Vinci - chasing contracts in various sectors.

Sarkozy's Africa policy shift

Addressing Kinshasa's national assembly in the first visit by a French president to the former Belgian colony in a quarter of a century, Mr Sarkozy suggested Kinshasa and its Great Lakes neighbours work together for their mutual benefit.

"The peoples of central Africa will not be changing their address.

"If they can develop good neighbourly relations, the peoples of central Africa will have a rich and peaceful life. If it's a case of might is right, the peoples of central Africa will stay poor and unhappy," he said.

He gained a round of applause from MPs for saying that Congolese sovereignty would not be violated.

Uproar

Preparations for the visit were overshadowed by comments Mr Sarkozy made in January when he suggested DR Congo share its mineral wealth with Rwanda as a way to end violence around the main eastern city of Goma.

The idea triggered uproar with the Congolese media accusing Paris of seeking a "Balkanisation" of the country and trying to use DR Congo's mineral wealth to help mend its ties with Rwanda.

Paris and Kigali have been at loggerheads for years over who is to blame for Rwanda's 1994 genocide, in which some 800,000 people were slaughtered.

Kinshasa resident Jean Pierre Mafuta told the BBC News website:

"What Mr Sarkozy is forgetting, is that DR Congo had been sharing its wealth, its people and its land with the world for such a long time - what has the Congo got in return?"

Ahead of the visit, aides in Mr Sarkozy's office said: "There is no French peace plan, no plan to share riches, it is not the right moment," reported AFP.

On Thursday Mr Sarkozy also praised as "brave" the Congolese leader's decision to invite Rwandan troops into his country in January for a five-week joint operation against rebel militias plaguing the neighbours' border.

The move was politically sensitive as Rwanda has twice invaded the country in recent years and many Congolese distrusted the Kigali forces' presence.

The aim of the military campaign was to flush out rebel forces each government has accused the other of backing and which have been at the heart of the region's conflicts since Rwanda's genocide.

The DR Congo parliament's speaker was forced to quit on Wednesday after criticising Mr Kabila's decision to let in the Rwandan troops.

Nigerian Population Census: Men outnumber women by millions

From en.afrik.com 25 March 2009:
Nigerian Population Census: Men outnumber women by millions

According to a new government gazette on the Nigerian 2006 population census, Nigerian women are outnumbered by men. Quoted by the local press Sunday, the official gazette indicated that the country’s total population of 140,431,790 comprises 71,345,488 males and 69,086,302 females. This means that there are 2,259,186 more males than females in the country. Males outnumber females only in four of the country’s 36 states - Ebonyi, Enugu, Ogun and Plateau States.

Al-Qaeda claims abduction of two Canadian diplomats and four European tourists in Niger

Al-Qaeda's North Africa network claims responsibility for abduction of two Canadian diplomats. From Middle East Online 18 February 2009:

Qaeda claims abduction of diplomats, envoys

DUBAI - Al-Qaeda's North Africa network has claimed responsibility for the abduction of two Canadian diplomats, one of them a UN envoy, and four European tourists in Niger, Al-Jazeera television reported.

"We are happy to bring our Islamic nation the good news of the mujahideen's success in carrying out two quality operations in Niger," the group's spokesman Salah Abu Mohammed said in an audio tape aired on the Doha-based pan-Arab channel late Tuesday.

His announcement was also posted on Al-Jazeera's website.

Two Canadians, UN envoy to Niger Robert Fowler and his colleague Louis Guay went missing outside Niamey in mid-December along with their driver when returning from a visit to a gold mine operated by Canadian company Semafo.

Earlier this month, Malian sources close to the investigation into the abduction said they had seen an undated video showing the diplomats were still alive.

The sources said the video showed the two diplomats speaking with armed men behind them. The missing driver was not shown.

On January 22, a Swiss couple, an elderly German woman and a British man were returning from a Tuareg cultural festival in Mali when they were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen along the border of Mali and Niger.

Al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb claimed several suicide bombings in Algeria last year.

It says it intends to unify armed groups in Algeria and Morocco as well as emerging groups in countries bordering the Sahara including Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea.

- - -

From AKI February 18, 2009 (Dubai):

Terrorism: Al-Qaeda video claims foreign abductions in Niger

A message allegedly from Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of Canadian diplomats Robert Fowler and Louis Guay in Niger and the abduction of four European tourists in January on the border between Niger and Mali.

"We are happy to announce to the Islamic nation that our mujahadeen have managed to carry out two operations in Niger," said the audio message purportedly from Al-Qaeda's North African branch. It was broadcast on Wednesday by Dubai-based Arabic satellite news channel Al-Arabiya.

"The mujahadeen reserve the right to treat the hostages according to Islamic Sharia law," the audio message warned.

Fowler is a Canadian diplomat and United Nations special envoy to Niger and Guay is the deputy director of the Sudan task force in the Canadian capital,Ottawa. They were abducted with their driver outside Niamey on 14 December while returning from a visit to a gold mine operated by a Canadian company.

On 16 December a rebel group called the Front des Forces de Redressement claimed to have kidnapped Fowler, but a spokesperson later denied the claim.

An undated video showing the diplomats were still alive was sent to the Malian authorities earlier this month. Their missing driver was not shown in the video.

A Swiss couple, an elderly German woman and a British man were returning from a Tuareg cultural festival in Mali on 22 January when they were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen along the border of Mali and Niger.